A high jump being performed by Yelena Slesarenko at Stavanger Games 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Visual Description: The Fosbury Flop. (Not to be confused with the Hillary Flip Flop!)
RAYIN = RAINY, BILIA = ALIBI, CATEPU = TEACUP, GLERCY = CLERGY — Giving us: RAALEPEY
Clue/Question: Regardless of when the Olympics were held, for the high jumper it was – – –
English: Inscription on the grave of Gregory XIII, St. Peter’s Basilica, gregorian calendar Deutsch: Tafel vom Grab Gregor XIII, Petersdom, Gregorianischer Kalender Lëtzebuergesch: Gregorianesche Kalenner, Petersdom, Roum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Answer: LEAP YEAR
(Happy Leap Day, everybody! Yeah, right. Just a day to make up for the fact that the world isn’t as orderly as we’d like it to be. It actually takes the earth 365.2422 days to completely get around the sun. The .2422 comes out to around 5 hours, 49 minutes, and like 14 seconds, so it’s not a perfect 1/4 of a day. But, it was decided that they would add an additional day – the 29th – to February, every four years, to – more or less – get caught up. But now, because of this little correction, we go from – calendar-wise – being short by a 1/4 of a day for three years, to now being roughly 11 minutes over when we add the extra day in a Leap Year. 11 minutes doesn’t seem like much, but over the course of 400 years – a Leap Cycle – it adds up to 3 additional days! So now, to make up for that they decided there’d be no February 29th on century years that cannot be divided by 400 years. Which means that there was no Leap Year in 1700, 1800 or 1900, but 2000 was a Leap Year. If, somehow, you’re around in 2100 you’ll see what I’m talkin’ about. Oh, and the “they” that I mentioned earlier was Pope Gregory XIII and his boys, back in 1582. Geo-centrism was a thing of the past, and the “new” helio-centrism made it necessary for bigwigs and scientists to re-examine our world . . . and our calendar system.
But, heliocentrism pales in comparison to new clue words joining the World Famous RALIS95 Clue Word Database! And, yes! Today we have another new clue word, in “alibi”. We also have three new jumbles today, with “rayin” definitely having been used before. The answer letter layout was another fine jumble. The answer was a bit of a no-brainer though. The cartoon did a good job of getting the point across. Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
Related articles
- The Calendar (frmilovan.wordpress.com)
- Leap Year 2016: Why does February have 29 days every four years? (telegraph.co.uk)
- Bizarre Leap Year Facts That Make February 29th Even More Special (rd.com)
- Look before you leap as February 29 adds a day to our lives (express.co.uk)
- Today in History: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 (goerie.com)
- Today in History for Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 (amarillo.com)
- Leap year: the myths – and the mathematical necessity (theweek.co.uk)
- Upcoming Leap Day (dailypeptalks.wordpress.com)
- Are you thinking about proposing to your partner this leap year day? We can help! (wirralglobe.co.uk)
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Splendid new word in ALIBI! Adding to the database is just their cup of tea … the Jumble crew found great use for the extra day.
Ooh!!! Don’t get me started on those GD compound words again, hal! Who the Hell decided that teacup is acceptable, but coffeecup or coffeemug are not??? Are there any kind of rules surrounding compound words, like length, or what? LOL! — YUR
Oh, Unc Rave, please don’t start a tempest in a teapot!
Yes, TEACUP gave me a LOT of trouble, even though it has appeared before. The rest were straightforward. Great final answer, although it was fairly obvious. Loved the pun.
Oh no, you di-in’t! — YUR
TEACUP only gave me a little trouble, Vijay. I guess I just recognized it even though the jumble is new. — YUR
TEACUP was a little hard for me as well, but ALIBI came to me right away.
Aren’t alibis easy, Damid? 😉
Vnat, 💪💪💪👍👍👍;D